Culture equipment of microorganisms and method for counting number of microorganisms using same

Abstract

A culture equipment in which culture equipment can be easily produced with high handleability, and the number of the microorganisms in the analyte can be easily counted. The culture equipment of microorganisms has (a) an upper member, (b) a lower member having a recess, and (c) a medium ingredient, and (c) the medium ingredient contains (c1) at least one selected from polyacrylic acid and/or a salt thereof and a derivative thereof, and (c2) a nutritional ingredient. Then, (a) the upper member preferably has a projection having a shape that can be mutually fitted to the recess of (b) the lower member through (c) the medium ingredient.

1 . Culture equipment of microorganisms, comprising (a) an upper member; (b) a lower member having a recess; and (c) a medium ingredient,
 wherein (c) the medium ingredient contains (c1) a polymer compound that can forth non-flowable transparent gel without passing through dissolution by heating and without depending on cooling, and (c2) a nutritional ingredient.   
     
     
         2 . The culture equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein (c1) the polymer compound can be hydrated in an amount 10 times or more its own weight. 
     
     
         3 . The culture equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein the gel causes no syneresis. 
     
     
         4 . The culture equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein (c1) the polymer compound has acrylic acid as a monomer unit. 
     
     
         5 . The culture equipment according to  claim 4 , wherein (c1) the polymer compound is at least one selected from polyacrylic acid and/or a salt thereof and a derivative thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The culture equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein (a) the upper member has a projection having a shape that can be mutually fitted to the recess of (b) the lower member through (c) the medium ingredient. 
     
     
         7 . The culture equipment according to  claim 6 , wherein (c) the medium ingredient is coated onto at least a part of the projection of (a) the upper member and/or the recess of (b) the lower member. 
     
     
         8 . The culture equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein (a) the upper member and/or (b) the lower member is transparent. 
     
     
         9 . A method, wherein microorganisms in an analyte are cultured and the number of the microorganisms is counted by using the culture equipment according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , comprising:
 a step of adding an analyte to a recess of (b) a lower member;   a step of fitting a projection of (a) an upper member to the recess of (b) the lower member;   a step of culturing microorganisms contained in the analyte; and   a step of counting the number of colonies of the microorganisms.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein (a) an upper member of the culture equipment has a projection having a shape that can be mutually fitted to a recess of (b) a lower member through (c) a medium ingredient, comprising:
 a step of adding an analyte to the recess of (b) the lower member;   a step of fitting the projection of (a) the upper member to the recess of (b) the lower member;   a step of culturing microorganisms contained in the analyte; and   a step of counting the number of colonies of the microorganisms.